Supermarkets and many other large retail stores provide shopping carts for the convenience of their customers. These carts generally have a built-in seat for small children which faces the handle or rear area of the cart allowing the child to grasp the wire frame. Safety and security devices to restrain the child in the seat are well known in the prior art, however, none are particularly intended to prevent the child from sticking his fingers and hands through the metal bars. There have been many instances where children have done so and become entrapped. A need exists for a safety device to prevent small children from becoming entrapped in the wire bars in front of the seat in these carts. It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide such a shopping cart safety device incorporating the utmost safety features, ease of installation, and affordability to the provider of the carts.
Some examples of the prior art safety and security devices and others structured for supporting articles, are set forth in the patents briefly described below:
The Mandrecchia U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,607 shows a harness for small children adapted to secure a child to an independent structure such as a shopping cart. The harness further has a strap and tether unit to lock the child to the shopping cart. The harness of the Mandrecchia patent safely secures the child from abduction and does protect the child from moving about in the seat, however it does not prevent the harnessed child from sticking his hands and fingers through the wire bars and becoming entrapped.
The Thinnes U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,589 also shows a security device for children which attaches to a conventional shopping cart and restricts the distance a child can wander from the parent or guardian. The harness further has a reel attached to the shopping cart by a lock. The purpose of the harness is to safely secure the child from abduction, however the Thinnes patent does not restrict the movement of the child within the seat of the shopping cart or protect his fingers and hands in any way.
The Zimmerman U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,017 illustrates a child's safety harness for use in crowded places with high density population. The safety harness is for use when the child is actively moving about and not secured in a seated position.
The Lewis U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,990 shows a safety belt with a reinforcing structure meant to fit around the body in a manner similar to a harness; however, the device does not surround the body to secure it within a structure such as the modem shopping cart.
The Weis U.S. Pat. No. 758,123 illustrates a harness used in connection with a child's carriage. The front body of the harness is secured around the upper back and side straps extend downward to hook to the carriage. However, the harness was used to restrain a child within a moving carriage during the early 1900's and is not readily adaptable to a modern shopping cart.